Put on your cleats, Crusaders! It's time for the Carnage Cup: the most violent, the most painful, and by far the most exciting hand-egg ball competition in the whole universe! Recruit all four of the Carnage Cup Crusaders, including two brand new ones, as you throw, run, and kick your way to victory.
The tailgate party is underway and now the game begins starting today and running through to February 7th at Noon PST. For those players who haven't unlocked them already, this is your chance to add both Groklok and Drizzle to your roster.
Of course, as this is a 2017 update of the original event you can also collect two new Crusaders: Karl the Kicker and Cindy the Cheer-Orc.

New Tier Two Crusader: Karl the Kicker.

Karl the Kicker takes up the same slot as Natalie Dragon and has some cool abilities in his kit bag. At level 50 Split the Uprights divides your DPS evenly between the front-most and back-most enemies (if there's only one enemy, it will take full normal damage; if two, each takes 50% of total DPS).
At level 400, Karl unlocks Play Of The Game where the back-most enemy takes an additional 40% damage (multiplicative; so front-most takes 50% of total DPS, back-most takes 70% of total DPS)

New Tier Two Crusader: Cindy the Cheer-Orc.

Cindy the Cheer-Orc has some cool abilities hidden in her pom-poms. At level 50, she unlocks
Top of the Pyramid which will buff other Crusaders' DPS up to 25% per slot based on how far away they are from Cindy. At level 400 her Practice Makes Perfect ability increases the effect of Top of the Pyramid based on the area you've reached by 10% (multiplicative) per 50 areas.
After you've completed the first new Tier Two objectives for Karl and Cindy, there are three more objectives to keep you busy.

New Tier Two Objective: Flag On The Play.

In Flag On The Play referees spawn as monsters, and when they die, they throw a flag on one of your Crusaders disabling their DPS and Formation Abilities for 30 seconds.

New Tier Two Objective: Stand By For This Important Word From Our Sponsor.

Stand By For This Important Word From Our Sponsor introduces TV sets interminably promoting various products you absolutely have to own. When a TV dies, you get a random positive or negative effect for a few seconds (e.g. reduced global DPS, reduced gold bonus, increased global DPS, or increased gold bonus).

New Tier Two Objective: Halftime Show.

The final new Tier Two objective is Halftime Show. A singer and several musical instruments take up space in your formation. The singer performs for 10 seconds every 10-20 seconds. Whenever the singer is singing, the deafening noise reduces your DPS by 99.99%. When she stops, your DPS returns at a rate of 5% per second.
Equipment for both Tier 1 and 2 Crusaders can be found in Carange Cup Silver and Jeweled Chests. However, gear for the Tier 2 Crusaders will only appear once you've unlocked the respective Crusader.
You'll have until February 7th at Noon PST to win the Championship and claim the Carnage Cup trophy. Go team!